Russia arrests mathematician on terrorism charges minutes after his release from prison

MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities in Russia have arrested a mathematician on terrorism charges after he completed a prison sentence. Russian media outlets reported that Azat Miftakhov was detained minutes after his release from a penal colony on Monday. His lawyer told state news agency Tass that Miftakhov was charged with justifying terrorism and refused to plead guilty. Miftakhov was accused in 2019 of attacking a Moscow office of the Kremlin’s ruling United Russia party. He rejected the allegations. A Moscow court later convicted him of hooliganism and sentenced him to six years. Tass reported that the new charges center around conversations in which Miftakhov allegedly expressed support for a fatal attack on a Federal Security Service office.